Carter's First Christmas!

I had always heard that children bring the greatest joy in this life. I used to think I knew that was true, my students could be stinkers some times, but they always gave me so much joy. When I had Carter however, I didn't just think it was true, I knew it was true. Every day is a testament to that as I watch my little man grow up. You can not experience this much joy nor understand how children give so much joy, until you have children of your very own. 

Firsts have been so fun with Carter! His first bath, his first tooth, his first time crawling, his first time trying to walk, his first time climbing into the dish washer, oh how I love all of them! His first Christmas was something we were able to experience, and I don't think I have ever had so much fun!!! It's so awesome when you are mommy and daddy!

He loved his stocking!

What a cutie!

Chillin with Aunt Kira and his "spear" <3

"My first Christmas"

He loved what Santa got him!

Getting ready to climb the mountain of presents

He got so many fun things! 

He was excited for everyone and everything!

Can't believe he's already trying to walk!

We had a wonderful time!

Even though I'm sure he had no idea what was going on, his smiles, laughs, and little babbles told us all that he loved it! The best part about this Christmas was that I was able to understand Mary's feelings a little more. Oh how overwhelmed I bet she felt, but never doubted that she loved little baby Jesus with all of her heart. I know that God is our wonderful loving Heavenly Father, because he has given me the opportunity to feel his love through my sweet little boy. It hurts my heart to know that he is growing up so fast, but I will always have the memories! It also is a testament to me, that we will be an eternal family, and although little Carter is growing up, he will be mine forever. I hope that this year we will realized the precious time we have on earth with our families, and make the most of it! Happy reading!

This Roller Coaster Called Life Part 2

Are you ready to hear about more things going wrong? Well, these stories aren't as good as forgetting my ID when I knew we were flying, or almost missing our flights. Some sad things happened, making our trip to the Tri-Cities for Christmas pushed further back.

While Jason was in Denver and Carter and I were chilling in Salt Lake, Jason found that a really good friend of his passed away. He was a wonderful man who Jason looked up to like a father. He introduced Jason to the church, went on father son outings with him, and helped us out so much when we were first married. Rich Voise was like a father to Jason when he didn't have one and we were devastated when we heard the news. He was so young and yet his time on this earth was over. There was never a question wither we would go to the funeral or not, even if it was going to be in Montana.

We were only home for a couple of days, and I was crazy busy trying to get things done. We decided Jason would attend the funeral alone, so luckily I had a couple more days to finish Christmas gifts, finish Christmas Cards (since we were sick I never finished them), and pack for our week in Tri-Cities. Making gifts and cards was insane!! I thought I would have enough time, but when you have an 8 month old baby who crawls, climbs, and gets into everything, suddenly you have no free time on your hands. I hand made every single card! YIKES!! The sad thing too, was that I had all my gifts finished and ready to deliver, but then I was sick. When we returned from our trip they were all bad and disgusting, definitely not eatable, so I made more :)

Jason returned home from Montana on Sunday, and as soon as I pulled in from church, we packed the car and headed out. Luckily we have a Grandma who is a little more than half way to my parents house and willing to have us crash at their place for a night. It was fun because we were able to see my aunt, uncle, and cousins we visited in Arizona. They were there for Christmas and it was wonderful seeing them again. Once we learned that everyone was getting sick, we almost got the car and finished the journey, but a warm bed and wonderful company for the night was just too good to pass up.

Monday morning we left for the Tri-Cities and I could hardly wait for Christmas to get here! Not only was in Carter's first Christmas, but we were home doing all of our family traditions. We played games, passed Carter around (everyone is in love with him lol), visited with friends, watched movies, and attended another funeral. My great aunt had passed away. To support my dear sweet grandpa we all attended her funeral. The family members that attended filled almost the whole church. They opened the back for any friends who attended. Although I hate funerals and they are never any fun, we left with a good feeling and an opportunity to see family members we hadn't seen in quite some time. Now we are hoping for no funerals for a while. Poor Jason had been to 3 in less than 2 months!

After our week in the Tri-Cities, we were sad to have to go. I was honestly a little depressed to return home to the middle of no where with out another trip planned for at least 1.5 weeks. Taking down decorations (that we really never got to enjoy), doing laundry, and unpacking has of course kept me busy. I love having Carter all to myself too, because he is the sweetest little human being and gives me the love I need. I love being his mom! Here are a few pictures of him getting ready for Christmas :)

What a big boy! He loved our little Christmas Tree :)

Just enjoying the Christmas Devotional

Wearing his new PJs

Riding in the car to Grandma's house

Oh the things that keep little boys entertained :)

This Roller Coaster Called Life Part 1

Well, we made it to 2014! This little family has had all kinds of adventures. We've gotten the stomach flu, flew to Tuscon Arizona, flew to Denver, spent a couple of days in Salt Lake, attended a funeral in Montana, drove to Tri Cities Washington, and hung out in Twin Falls Idaho for the New Year. We are fantastic at having multiple things go wrong, but managed to get out of each adventure with smiles on our faces :)

So... getting the stomach flu the day before leaving on a long waited trip to the desert in the winter, was probably the worst thing that could have happened. Luckily Carter was still his happy self, but mom and dad were dragging all day. Jason started the day at work while I was puking my guts out, but after struggling to get Carter out of his crib and having enough of no sleep, he came home and followed suit. We were both so very sick :( The priesthood is amazing however, because after seeing that I had a temperature of 103, Jason gave me a blessing. About 12 hours later, I was completely healed. Except for feeling a little weak, I was doing great! I was so happy we wouldn't have to cancel our trip, but we sure had to pack and pack in a hurry! We left that very same night to stay in Salt Lake for our early morning flight to Tuscon.

We were about 2 hours into our 4 hour trip (we left way later than expecting too), when I noticed my ID was not with me. Well ladies and gentleman, if you have ever forgotten your ID and somehow found a way to fly, please let me know. Our poor little family had to turn around at 7 pm to go home and get mom's ID and then continue our journey back to Salt Lake. Oh boy was I not happy with myself, but after grabbing my ID, getting in the car, and driving away, all I could do was laugh at the stupid mistake I made.

We arrived in Salt Lake around midnight, said hello to my brother-in-law and crashed as fast as we could. 5 am came around way too quickly, and suddenly we found ourselves driving to the airport in a hurry. Flying for the first time with a baby, we should have given ourselves plenty of time to go through security, but of course we did not and somehow waited in the longest (time not people) line for our tickets. We were so late getting our tickets that they told us they could not check our car seat. We were both not happy with the news, but booked it to security. Someone must have been watching over us, because we were put in an express line and made it to the plane just as they said it was the last call.

Don't worry, getting on the plane was not easy for us either. Just as we took out our boarding passes the lady informed us we needed an infant pass for Carter. I was almost ready to say, you know... 'let's just stay in Salt Lake.' The lady was very helpful however, and we got our infant pass and sat in our seats just as they announced our departure. Oh boy :)

We had a layover in Phoenix and almost missed our flight there too. We were starving and so Jason ran to get us something to eat while I watched our bags and let Carter crawl around. Well, the plane to Tuscon I guess was very small and they were waiting on us... There were about 10 people on the flight. Jason made it in the nic of time and we made it!!

Staying in Tuscon actually went very well considering our craziness to get there. We stayed at a really nice resort, got to visit my Aunt, Uncle, and their kids (I got to spend lots of time with them because Jason had meetings all day), ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant called Cafe Poca Cosa, went to the zoo (carter's first time), I got pampered at a "spa", Carter met Santa for the first time, and we didn't have to wear jackets the entire time! It was an amazing trip!!

Our flight back was much better, especially because it wasn't so early in the morning. We of course thought we didn't bring the camera and didn't take any pictures but with our phones, and later found that we had the camera with us the whole time. Yep, of course just our luck. Here are some pictures of Carter at the zoo!

Carter at the zoo! Thought it was going to be a lot hotter than 60 

My cute cousin who is just a little older than Carter

We saw some bears

Look how excited he is lol

No crying with Santa!!!!!!

Well, Carter and I chilled in Salt Lake for a couple of days, while Jason jetted off on another plane to work in Denver Colorado (the same day we got back, poor guy). Luckily nothing went wrong there, although we weren't able to spend time with the people we wanted to. Everyone was busy, so we made our trip worth while with tons of last minute Christmas shopping. That's what you have to do when you live out in the middle of nowhere!

Wonderful Blessings!

Well… the craziness of life has done it again, and I can’t remember all the things that have been happening in our little family. In fact, as I sit here sipping hot chocolate, watching Elf, and being so thankful for a fire and warm house… I really can’t remember anything that has happened besides our weekend in Oregon. I guess that’s a start…

Last Wednesday we left on a grand adventure to Nyssa Oregon. Never heard of it huh? Well, there’s no surprise there. It is a tiny farming town where the 2 of the most amazing people in my family, host our family Thanksgiving every year. My grandma and grandpa Ballantyne J Thanksgiving is always a huge deal in the Ballantyne family. In fact, it is pretty much like a mini reunion where not everyone comes, but we sure enjoy each other, make memories, go black Friday shopping, and enjoy every minute of the kiddos playing outside. I love Thanksgiving at Grandma’s house!

Our Thanksgiving weekend consisted of everyone loving on Carter, black Friday shopping on Thanksgiving day (so insane), board games, heated conversations, a talent show, late nights, sewing, being crafty, shooting, watching movies, and eating so much food, especially pie. I’m pretty sure we had over 15 pies… all were gone by Saturday. I made a delicious chocolate pumpkin pie that was hidden in the back of the refrigerator. I was so excited to see it had survived. Once it was seen however… gone in 60 seconds.

Enjoying Thanksgiving Dinner :) Yum!

Cute turkeys. The kids loved making these!

First time eating turkey!

Just chillin at great grandma's house

My delicious pie!! If you would like the recipe let me know :)

One of my favorite nights had to be Friday when we all got together to share our talents. We took turns in each family, and shared something that actually was very last minute. It was incredible to see all the talents of each of my family members. I was a little embarrassed, when all Jason and I had was teaching Carter how to do high five (yes he already high fives and he is only 7 months soon to be 8). I wished we had a little more notice so I could have brought my guitar, but to be honest I still would have been embarrassed. So many of my cousins can sing, play instruments, and memorize things like the Gettysburg Address. One of my aunts actually writes songs, and the song she wrote was so beautiful she had everyone crying. I would have been embarrassed to share my lack of talent compared to each and every one who participated.  It was so wonderful to have us all together and I could really feel the love that we had for each other. I think we all went to bed that night feeling more appreciation for each other.

Sadly Sunday afternoon we were on the road again back home. I was a little excited to be home just to get back into our routine and schedule, but I dreaded Monday when Jason would be away from us for 14 hours, and I volunteered to be a mother of 3 for the day. It really didn't help when we pulled into our garage and found the door to the house locked. That might sound funny, but a locked door is not a good sign to someone who doesn't have a key. Our key to the house on our key chain was missing. It is kind of funny to say however, we ended up breaking into our front window at 8 o’clock at night and found our heat never kicked on while we were away. With weather in the teens at night, our house was a whopping 50 degrees, or at least that is how low our thermostat goes, so it might have been cooler. We got our heat going right away and now everything is right in the world lol.

Last night we started our Christmas festivities and Carter helped set up his very first Christmas tree! Everything is so much fun when you have a little one! It is so fun to see the amazement in their eyes and how excited they get. I cannot wait to see what he does on Christmas morning J

Carter and Daddy next to the Christmas tree

He was helping to get all the decorations out

Silly little boy :)

Mommy and Carter after setting up the tree <3

Our next adventure is happening in T-minus 1.5 weeks!!! We will be flying with Carter for the first time to Tucson Arizona! I hope everything goes well… have a wonderful week!

P.S Carter is 7 months and words cannot describe how much I love this little man! He has already learned how to crawl and now gets into cupboards, has the cheesiest smile that melts your heart, loves giving sloppy wet kisses, and pulls himself up on everything he can. He is already started to stand up on his own :( My sweet little boy is growing up so fast! Enjoy these sweet pictures :)

He did this completely on his own. Flipped the basket and everything!!

Carter Loves to give mom kisses <3

Cute little man looking outside at the snow

He loves books!

Cutest and Cheesiest smile I have ever seen!

He loves that he can just crawl away...

Halloween Festivities and Unexpected News

Why hello everyone!  I know that it is the 2^nd week of November and I am just now posting about our Halloween, but life seems to be so crazy and well here we are.

It was Carter’s first Halloween! You already heard about our awesome experience with carving pumpkins, but dressing up and going out was a whole new experience.  In Spring Creek no one goes trick or treating, but there are things going on in Elko and our ward had a trunk or treat. We got Carter the cutest pirate costume and had to take him out to experience Halloween. Jason and I threw costumes together, bought a couple of giant bags of candy and headed out to our ward building. When we arrived we were shocked at how many people actually showed up. I guess no one told us all of Spring Creek actually comes to the trunk-or-treat…

Daddy and Carter are ready to party!

Mommy and Carter ready to go :)

Our little pirate family <3

As we pulled into a parking space we realized we totally didn’t buy anything to decorate our trunk with, and it was actually freezing outside. So what did we do? Kept Carter in his car seat and set him in the trunk so he could just chill and look at all the scary costumes. I’m pretty sure we would have won best decorated car, because everyone commented on our cute little decoration. Some people didn’t realize Carter was actually real, and a group of little girls walking by freaked out because we were the cutest pirate family. I’m so glad we weren’t considered the lame ones for not decorating our trunk.

Our trunk decoration :)

Carter and Daddy at the trunk-or-treat

Jason and I handed out candy for about 5 minutes and completely ran out!!! I could not believe how fast those bags of candy went! That gave us the excuse to wrap up our sweet baby pirate and walk around to see all the other trunks and get candy of course. Carter wasn’t really impressed with the idea of walking around and getting candy he didn’t get to eat, but he sure did have a fun time playing with it after wards.

Look at all that candy!

The rest of our week was very relaxing and fun. Carter started crawling all over the place and getting into everything his little hands can reach. He was also able to go to a fancy restaurant with us for date night, and sat in a little high chair for the first time. He was so good while we ate dinner, but I think it’s because he thought it was the neatest thing to be sitting in a high chair. He sure did attract a lot of attention with his beautiful eyes of his. I’m pretty sure he is going to be the biggest ladies’ man when he gets older.

looking so innocent...

Showing off his moves :)

Not so innocent anymore....

During the next week we were counting down the days to see our awesome friends in Logan Utah. We had planned to stay an entire weekend with them after Jason’s ortho appointment on Thursday. Monday I got a phone call from my mom that changed everything. My uncle John had suddenly passed away. No one was expecting it and knew the answer as to why he had died. He clasped at work and they were unable to revive him. Our weekend plans suddenly changed to attend a funeral for a dear sweet man.

Thursday we were still able to make it to Jason’s ortho appointment and received exciting new that in 2 appointments they’ll be coming off! Then we crashed at our friends place in Logan to make up for canceling and help break our trip to Oregon up so we weren’t in the car too long for Carter. In Logan we let our little ones play, had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and stayed up into the wee hours of the morning with a movie and ice cream. We were sad to have to leave the next morning, but it was so good to be able to get to my grandma’s house and give each of my family members a hug.

Jace and Carter chilling at Buffalo Wild Wings

Friday night they held a viewing at the church. Many showed to pay their respects and say their goodbyes. We were told many stories about the memorial held in his honor Thursday afternoon. John was a wonderful man who was so loving and loved by so many people that he worked with. His family was so touched by all the stories that were told about him and amazed to see all the people who would truly miss him.

Saturday was the funeral and despite having to say goodbye and bawling like a baby the whole time, the services were wonderful and it was a celebration of his life. I know that I’ll see my uncle again, it just won’t be in this life. He is where he needs to be. Something I found very comforting from all of this, is that he can finally see his kids again. He loved them with all of his heart. After not being able to see them for 10 plus years, he can look at them every day now. He will be an angel watching over them.  I was able to see family members I haven’t seen for years, share stories about my dear uncle, and show off my cute little Carter. I’m pretty sure Carter was being passed around 90% of the time we were there. He was loving it too. Every time I looked for him he was with someone new.

We love and miss you Uncle John!

RIP Uncle John... until we meet again!

We saw him when it was time to eat :)

That night while everyone went to see a movie, Carter had some time to play with my cousin who happens to be his age. He was also attacked by a tiny Chihuahua puppy and cuddled by his daddy. He was loving life and loving the fact that it wasn’t as loud with everyone there.

Chilling at great grandma's house

2nd cousin time with Deklan

The little puppy loved little Carter

Sunday was spent saying goodbyes to everyone and heading to our home. It’s so funny how I want to get out of here so bad during the week, but I am so thankful to come back at the end of the weekend. We are actually hoping for no adventures until Thanksgiving, but that never really works out. Until our next adventure, happy reading!

Our little cutie being so good in the car :)